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Release No: 220-06March 16, 2006

DoD Awards $40.4 Million to Universities for Research Equipment

The Department of Defense (DoD) today announced plans to award $40.4 million to academic institutions to support the purchase of research instrumentation. The awards are being made under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP).

The 183 awards to 88 academic institutions are expected to range from about $51,000 to $1 million and average $217,000. DURIP supports the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new university capabilities to perform cutting-edge defense research. DURIP meets a critical need by enabling university researchers to purchase scientific equipment costing $50,000 or more to conduct DoD-relevant research. The researchers generally have difficulty purchasing instruments costing that much under their research contracts and grants.

All awards are subject to the successful completion of negotiations between DoD research offices and the academic institutions.

This announcement is the result of a merit competition for DURIP funding conducted by the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Each office requested proposals from university investigators working in areas of importance to DoD, such as information technology, remote sensing, propulsion, electronics and electro-optics, advanced materials, and ocean science and engineering. In response to the requests, the research offices collectively received 933 proposals, requesting $254 million in support for research equipment.